unreasonable.org

Zelda's writing exercise: write about food

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rice and sweet potatos
it's easy, cut up a sweet potato, put it
a half cut of sushi rice
and about three quarters of a cup of water into the rice cooker and lt it work its magick
a little soy sauce, sprinkle some sesame seeds

and I am back in a Zen temple outside Kyoto

to keep vegetarian in Japan is not easy -
fish works its way into everything
but I did my best during my months there -
using my little bit of kana reading to learn names of things in the grocery store then looking the up on the internet
I ate a lot of cucumber sushi and konbu onigiris

then, near the end of my trip
three days in a Zen temple -
a whole table of vegetarian food!

and the complexity of the formal monastic meal
the stacking and unstacking of bowls
laying chopsticks down on the table without making a sound - mine alway clattering
the seven grains on rice placed under the table for the hungry ghosts

I can't cook worth a damn
But this one the one dish simple enough for me to remember and figure out
rice and sweet potato
a zen repast